The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-04-19
THE SUGAR MARKET.
An Interesting Budget of News from
san Francisco.


on this subject, which is of paramount i'm
portance on the Islands His information
is substantiated by that received by us from
other quarters, and we necessarily feel
compelled to admit that there is very
gloomy outlook.
A SWEET SUBJECT.
The following paragraph from the 81 x-
aminer" of 8th inst. substantiates what
was published in the ADVERTISER even pre-
vious to that date, and shows that our cor
respondent was on the alert for interesting
items. The paragraph referred to reads as
follows
Henry F. Allen and George Lewis have
sued the American Sugar Refinery to re-
cover 81 $50. The complaint states that
the manager of the refinery entered into
contract with them to furnish plaintiffs with
all the sugar they needed to supply their
customers in Oregon at the same price they
could BUY it from the California Refinery
and to allow them a rebate of one-eighth of
a cent per pound. They further allege that
they ordered SIC, 900 pounds of sugar from
the defendants, and after keeping the order
for several days they informed the plain
tiffS that they would not fill it. In the
meantime sugar went up three-eighths of a
cent, and in supplying their customers
plaintiff alleges that they lost the amount
asked for"
The above allegation, if substantiated in
Court, is far from being creditable to the
American Sugar Refinery management.
Ii is veritable "give away" 1t suggests
the system under which the American en-
deavors to do business; how it attempts to
lure away customers from the California
Refinery, and how, after having obtained
them upon specific promises, it failed to
keep its word of honor and meet its bust
ness engagements. The rebate of q cent
is referred to later. Messrs. Allen & Lewis
are the largest wholesale house in the trade
in Oregon and Washington Territory. 1t
was, of course, a great victory to have
cured their business from the California
Refinery. But the better business method
of the latter is apparent at a glance as it
refused to offer any rebate and run the risk
of losing money, for the sake of retaining
customer. Such action, moreover, would
have been m anifestly unfair to other custO-
mers,-a policy that has never been adopted
by the California, which is, and has always
been, noted for its fair and straightforward
dealings. The monetary loss in the suit in
question will be mere bagatelle compared
with the loss of prestige. In fact, the
American Refinery management was the
laughing stock of the San Francisco jobbers
on the day before the Alameda sailed.
Several prominent merchants were heard
to say that they would far rather have paid
$40, 900 than be sued for sucn paltry sum
which exposed breach of faith in repudiat-
ing contract.
MORE TROUBLE AHEAD.
1t will be remembered that Mr. Hugh
Craig, a stakeholder in the Hawaiian
Commercial and Sugar Company, brought
suit, some time since, against E. L. G.
Steele, a director of the company, for
causing two dividends to be paid, as is al
legged, out of borrowed money and not out
of surplus profits arising from the bust
ness. The amount sued for is 100000, for
which the directors present when the divi-
dend was declared are personally liable.
Colonel Spreckels who was then direc-
tor, was in Honolulu at the time these
dividends were declared, and is therefore
not in any way responsible for the decIara-
ton of the dividends. The defendant,
Steele, demurred to the complaint upon
several grounds, all of which have been
overruled by Judge Hunt i'll long de
cision. If the suit be won against Steele
then the sum of 100000 will be paid over
to the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar
Company. The defendant has been al
lowed ten days time in which to answer
the complaint. This law suit, with that
of Allen and Lewis, and the withdrawal
of old stockholders from the American
Refinery, all coming together. are some
what calculated to disturb the equanimity
of the American manager, especially when
he is troubled also with the problem of
what to do with his sugar."
SURPLUS PRODUCTION.
1t has been too readily and only too
willingly conceded that the statistical po-
sition of the worlds sugar supply is much
better than it was year ago. The visi- !
bic supply has been figured upon as being
much less. But this was grave and
very serious error. No account has ever
been taken of the Russian surplus sugar
crop, which was dumped surreptitiOusly |
into the English market when favored by |
an advance in values This supply has |
from sight, and it has been !
reckOned that it has been con-
One of the best authorities OH the |
worlds sugar supply is the New York |
shipping and Commercial List" which |
draws particular attention to this subject |
in a late issue, just to hand. AS this is a |
matter of such vital importance to all on
these Islands, whether engaged in the |
sugar industry or not, we quote from that
paper as follows:
1.-The yield of the European beet crop
for the crop year that has just been COM
pleted is admitted to have been about |
10000 tons in excess of last year, and yet,
because the present visible supply is in
reality less than last year, there are those
in the trade who Jump at the conclusion
that this surplus production has been
and thereupon argue that after
all that has been said about excessive sup
ply, consumption has readily used up the
surplus. So good an authority upon sugar
statistics as Messrs. Willet & Hamlin of
this city, in their last weekly circular says:
the apparent authen- |